The God Reborn
Cassian's body unfolded.
Black ice erupted from his chest, encasing him in armor forged from the Precursor king's teeth. The holocron pulsed at his core, its light warping the air into a kaleidoscope of dead memories. The Forgotten God's voice boomed through the jungle, shaking the planet to its molten heart:
"The cycle ends. The throne is mine."
Kai's mark burned, veins of frost crawling up his neck. [Corruption Threshold: 50%.] "Cassian—!"
"He's gone," Li Na said, dragging Kai back as the ground splintered. "That thing is not your brother."
Anara fired at the god's emerging form, her plasma rounds vaporizing into mist. "We need to move! Now!"
The Dawn's engines screamed through the atmosphere, Veyra-7's hologram flickering. "The planet's core is destabilizing! Five minutes until collapse!"
The Weapon's Price
They regrouped in the ship's armory, the holocron's data bleeding across the screens. Anara decrypted the files, her face paling.
"The Precursors built a weapon. A 'Starbreaker'—it uses black holes to shred reality."
"Perfect," Li Na said, slamming a fresh magazine into her rifle. "We'll trap the god in its own storm."
"No," Veyra-7 interrupted. "The weapon requires a living conduit. Someone bonded to the Veil."
The room fell silent. Kai's corrupted hand trembled.
"No," Anara said. "There's another way."
"Is there?" Li Na met Kai's gaze. "The mark's halfway to your heart. You're dead either way."
[The ship lurched. The god's shadow darkened the viewport.]
The Brother's Blade
The Dawn's hangar bay opened to a warzone. Cassian—or the god wearing him—hovered above the jungle, his mere presence cracking the sky. Void-crystal meteors rained down, birthing tendrils that lashed at the ship.
"Distract it," Kai ordered, clutching the Starbreaker schematics. "I'll plant the weapon."
"Like hell," Anara snarled. "We do this together."
They leapt into the chaos. Li Na carved a path through the tendrils, her daggers singing. Anara provided cover fire, her shots precise, furious. Kai ran—not toward the god, but to the chasm where the Precursor king's throne lay buried.
Cassian descended, blocking his path. "You cannot outrun fate, brother."
"I'm not running," Kai said, igniting his plasma blade. "I'm saving you."
Their clash echoed across dead epochs.
The Fractured Heart
The Starbreaker was a spire of obsidian, its surface etched with the same spirals as the dead worlds. Kai jammed the holocron into its core, the activation sequence searing his mind.
"You will die here," the god hissed, Cassian's face twisting in rage. "Your blood will fuel my ascension!"
"Maybe," Kai said, blood dripping from his nose. "But I'll take you with me."
He channeled the mark's corruption into the weapon. Black ice engulfed his arm, fusing him to the spire. [Corruption Threshold: 70%.]
Anara's scream tore through the static: "Kai, don't—!"
The Starbreaker activated.
The Unseen Cost
The jungle imploded. Reality peeled back, the god's form unraveling into screaming fractals. Cassian fell, his armor shattering, the holocron disintegrating in his grasp.
"Kai!" Anara caught him as the Starbreaker crumbled. "Stay with me!"
His vision blurred. The mark receded, but his veins glowed faintly—a symbiosis, not a cure. [Synchronization: 10%. New Ability: Voidwalk.]
"Did we… win?"
Li Na knelt beside Cassian's unconscious body. "He's alive. But the god…"
Above them, the black hole birthed by the Starbreaker pulsed. Within its event horizon, a thousand eyes opened.
"You have slain a shadow," a chorus of voices boomed. "But the night is vast… and we are hungry."
The Beacon Ignited
The Dawn fled, its hull scorched. Veyra-7's voice was grim. "The weapon wasn't a trap. It was abeacon. You've awakened the Precursors' old enemies. They're coming."*
Anara gripped Kai's hand. "Let them come."
Li Na stared at Cassian, his chest rising and falling. "What do we do with him?"
"He stays," Kai said. "The god's gone. But the man… maybe he's still in there."
[Cassian's eyes flickered open—void-dark, then human. "Kai… I'm sorry."]